Match Preview - Stirling Albion

Please note, the club office will open at the slightly later time of 12pm tomorrow as staff are attending the funeral of Club Historian Jim Stewart

Oli Anderson previews tomorrow’s match against Stirling Albion.

The Standings

East Fife go into this weekend’s clash sat in 7^th place in cinch League Two, as our truly dismal run continues. We remain on 26 points after 22 games now. The promotion playoffs are still within reach as 4^th place Elgin remain 3 points ahead, albeit with a game in hand. A result on Saturday afternoon would hopefully give us the momentum to crack on, and apply pressure on the playoffs above us, rather than beneath us, as we are still just 6 points from the dreaded drop zone.

Stirling Albion are sat in 2^nd currently in the table, on 39 points after just 19 games, after postponements have seen the Binos gather up games-in-hand. Darren Young’s Stirling side are more than in a title fight, and victories in their upcoming fixtures could see them catch, and potentially surpass league-leaders Dumbarton.

In Stirling’s last 10 league games have saw them record 22 points, with 7 wins, 1 draw and two losses. Those games include a 6-0 hammering of Dumbarton, and the last time we clashed with Stirling, which also saw three points for the Binos.

East Fife, on the contrary, have only recorded 5 points in their last 10, with our win against Elgin, proving our only triumph since October.

Last Week

The Fife

McDonald’s men never got out of the blocks and from a creative standpoint looked very poor. Neither side created many chances in the first half, but when they did, they could only test the Fleming goalkeeper brothers in either net from outside of the 18-yard box.

After 30 minutes of action, East Fife anchor Kieran Millar was harshly booked after a challenge on Lyon.

Just four minutes after the booking, Annan should have found themselves a goal to the good. Some very tidy play from Reece Lyon saw him and Tommy Goss two on one against Allan Fleming, however the midfielder dilly-dallies with the ball, giving young centre half Aaron Steele time to recover and intercept the square pass when it was eventually played.

The well-timed interception did not stop the rampant Galabankies though, as less than 60 seconds later, creative midfielder Chris Johnston waited for his opportunity, beating the offside trap and calmly slotting past Allan Fleming.

East Fife bombed up the other end of the park straight away though, playing with intent for the first time in the contest. Shepherd was brought down right on the edge of the box, although his resulting free kick was fired into the arms of Greg Fleming.

The hosts were handed an advantage just two minutes into the second half, when referee Chris Fordyce deemed Kieran Millar’s ball winning challenge cynical and gave the holding midfielder his second booking and thus, he was sent for an early shower. With the Fifers a goal and a man down, their hopes of a much-needed win were crumbling right in front of their eyes.

The concerns of yet another defeat became a reality when Johnston doubled his goal tally for the day, pacing away from a counterattack and firing home. The ball sprung ten yards in front of him and veteran Alan Trouten, but it was the Annan man who won the footrace by quite some margin, once again beating Fleming from the one-on-one situation.

Annan had a barrel-load of chances in the second half, with A. Fleming, as he does every week, producing some marvellous saves to keep the scores down. It was all for naught though, as with five minutes to go, defender Max Kilsby fired a shot into the back of the net. 3-0 Annan.

The Visitors

Stirling played Stranraer at Forthbank last week, recording a 1-0 win in what was a routine contest. Stirling created double the chances of Stranraer, though in the first half they could not break the deadlock.

The first and only goal of the game came on the 48^th minute, when central midfielder and ex-Fifer Ross Davidson fired home for the Binos.

Squad News

Skipper Stewart Murdoch remains out with an injured calf. Joining him on the shelf is young striker Taylor Steven, who niggled his groin last week. Kieran Millar also misses out as he serves his suspension, after his sending off at Galabank last week.

Johnathan Page returns to East Fife after a 5-year spell away from the club and will be available at the weekend along with new loanee signing Aidan Denholm.

Previous encounter

The last time both sides met, the Binos walked away with a 3-1 win. Greig McDonald’s men struggled to find their feet in the opening 10 minutes, before looking the stronger outfit for the rest of the game.

Some slack Fife defending handed a chance Stirling a chance after they were carved open from a well weighted pass. Ex-Fifer Aaron Dunsmore latched onto it, and his driven cross found Fotheringham, giving the Binos the opener in just 6 minutes.

Just four minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead. A textbook corner, similar to those which have troubled the Black and Gold all season, was nodded home by Leitch, assisted yet again by Aaron Dunsmore.

The visitors eventually started to settle into the game and showed their footballing ability, however they struggled to break through the strong centre back pairing of McGregor and McLean.

The opportunity came with five minutes to go in the half, and it was absolutely magnificent. Scott Shepherd held up the play and gave the ball to Liam Newton. The Under 20s Graduate’s weighted pass was perfect for Alex Ferguson to latch onto, right on the by-line. The St Johnstone loanee gifted it to Alan Trouten, who slotted away his first goal from open play this season, in incredible fashion.

Fife were on the ascendency at the end of the half, but unfortunately went into the break a goal down.

The second half was more of the same for East Fife, they saw a lot of the ball, but just couldn’t find the killer pass. The game completely broke down here too, and there was a lot of hustle and bustle. Healy and Balde continued to do a good job of beating their man and drawing fouls.

Chances were flowing for the boys in Black and Gold, as Shepherd was doing incredibly well to hold up the play and pop the ball out to other attackers. Trouten was much improved and looked to have settled into the team system, he looked more comfortable on the ball, and his off the ball work was sensational.

On the 92^nd minute mark, Fife found that breakthrough for the equaliser after throwing everything at the Binos backline. Trouten picked up the ball on the 6yard box but fired right at the ‘keeper. The resulting counter was all it took for Dunsmore to put the game to bed and restore their two-goal lead.

Team Colours

The Fifer’s will line up in the tartan strip for the encounter at the weekend, which will be accompanied by the usual black shorts and socks. The goalkeeper will be in the green kit for the affair.

Stirling will don their usual red and white kit too, with a red shirt, and shorts, with red and white socks to match. It is unconfirmed which strip the Stirling goalkeeper will wear for the game.

Match Tickets

There will be no cash turnstiles for the game this weekend, and we encourage supporters to purchase their tickets online in advance where posible. You can also get tickets from the club, either in person, or over the telephone at 01333 426323. Parent and Child tickets must be bought directly from the club office.

Season tickets will be valid for the game.

Turnstiles will be open from 2pm.

Prices Below

Adult- £18

Concessions- £14

U16s- £5

Parent & Child- £21

Parent & 2 Children- £24.    

All child members of EFCFC & EFG&WFC have been granted free admission with a paying adult or as part of an organised group for all of our home league matches this season! Tickets for this are organised through EFCFC. We hope to see as many of you present as possible, to help support the team.

Live Stream

Unfortunately for our fans in the UK and Ireland there will be no Livestream for the clash this weekend. However, for our global audience, the game can be watched on EFTV with a monthly or Season pass.

NOTE: The East Fife TV is currently offline for scheduled maintenance but should be up and running for tomorrow’s game.

Officials

The on-park official on Saturday will be Ross Hardie. His two assistants running the lines are Barry Reid and Scott McGregor.

Collection

Alex TLC will have a bucket collection outside of Bayview pre-match.

Alex TLC is the only charity in the UK who provide information and support for those affected by Leukodystrophies, a degenerative disorder that affects the white matter of the brain. The disease impacts people of all ages and backgrounds, most notably, children and young people.

Refreshments

The stadium bar will be open from 12.15pm for pre-game refreshments. The pie stalls will open prior to kick-off and will also be open at half time. Our pie stalls accept both cash and card payments.

Programme

The Bayview Programme issue 16 is available from vendors outside of the stadium for £2.50. Also, half time draw tickets will be available pre-match.

Mon the Fife!